| conversation on education at my office | |||
| 04:09pm 06/10/2009 | |||
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I was just in a conversation with our business manager, who has worked in a daycare and as a teacher, and the other assistant, who has worked in school administration. The former commented that she doesn't read anything about education because it's too sad. I admitted that a) I have a Bad Attitude about our school systems, and b) I find myself most sympathetic to the writing on education from the radical, unschooling side of things. They both agreed. I also said something like, "They probably learned more in your daycare (because she'd mentioned that it was very very centered around the kids' desires) than they did in school!" to the business manager, who said I was probably right. It's just a pity that I wasn't preaching to likely-future-breeders... |
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| Read 2 - Post | |||
| when are tone arguments a good thing? | |||
| 02:56pm 15/09/2009 | |||
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After the last two posts and the conversations they triggered, I was starting to think that perhaps tone arguments just aren't ever very useful, and that the ideal things to do are: a) if the person using a tone you find objectionable is on "your side" then make the point your own way, without criticizing; and b) if you are debating something with someone whose tone you find objectionable, either ignore it and respond to the arguments rather than the tone, or remove yourself and look for other sources of information rather than assuming that person represents everyone who shares the opinion. I still think these are frequently excellent things to do. ( However... ) |
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| Read 4 - Post | |||
| the promised post on silencing allies | |||
| 03:00pm 11/09/2009 | |||
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So, I mentioned that I was willing to back up with an example my assertion that it can be a bad idea to discard the opinions of allies simply on the grounds that they aren't the person with a grievance... The situation I had in mind is regarding transphobia, and specifically bias against trans women. It's really a set of conversations I've been part of with various people, and it stars me as poor-dear-dismissed-ally (I know, boo hoo) though I want to be clear that I haven't felt dismissed in all of the interactions I've had on this topic. ( Read more... ) |
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| Read 46 - Post | |||
| ponderings on tone and allies | |||
| 09:26am 11/09/2009 | |||
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In general, I'm very wary of invalidating the opinions of allies. Clearly, people who haven't been in a situation can't really speak for the experience of people who have, but they can have insights based on what they've seen of discrimination and oppression in action. (You want a post with an example of cases where I think it's wrong to discard the opinions of allies? You just say the word.) I do have at least one double standard, though, which I was talking about with a friend today. I think that it's legitimate to reject criticism of the tone people-with-grievances take in their arguments. It seems correct to me to ignore arguments which (for example) derail things to tell women they'd be more successful feminists if only they weren't so strident and humorless. Allies, however? White folks arguing about race issues, or men about feminism, etc? This is an area where I do think allies can be criticized. I think tone arguments can be valid when dealing with allies, largely because I presume that while they're in a position to help fix things (and might need feedback on how to do so effectively), they aren't really in a position to have a clear need to let off steam. My thought is that while it is Not Okay to tell people-with-grievances that they cannot be loudly angry, people-without-grievances don't come across as angry to me, they come across as having fun being jerks. I have some built-in suspicion of this because it is a double standard, but I think it's sensible because it's based on differences in circumstances, rather than different expectations of people in matching circumstances. What does the internet think? |
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| Read 37 - Post | |||
| fall schedule | |||
| 09:26am 10/09/2009 | |||
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I require Capitol Hill sleepover buddies! My college plans demand it. So far, I've signed up for just one course for fall, so that I can keep things flexible as my job description changes at work. I'll add in credit-by-exam courses as the quarter goes on, if that seems wise. My lone class thus far: Intro to ASL, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 6:30 to 9. I know from experience that I dislike handing over so much time to the bus system (getting home from Capitol Hill that time of night reliably takes over an hour), especially when this is at the expense of my having social time. Clearly the solution is sleepovers on the hill, right? |
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| Read 12 - Post | |||
| Dear Lazywebs: Quotes on Socialist Theory | |||
| 04:32pm 02/09/2009 | |||
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I'm trying to locate a quote I read recently regarding socialism. The gist was that in a socialist nation, it mustn't be permissible for people to choose to work very little and live simply or live in poverty. I believe it was a quote from a historic possibly-female socialist political writer. Any clues? I found the following, by August Bebel: "As soon as society has become the owner of all means of production, the duty to work of all able-bodied persons, regardless of sex, becomes a fundamental law of socialized society. Society cannot exist without labor. It therefore is justified in demanding that all who seek to satisfy their requirements, should also serve to the best of their physical and mental abilities in producing the commodities that are needful to satisfy the requirements of all." It expresses a similar sentiment, but isn't as explicit as the quote I'm fuzzily recalling. |
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| Read 9 - Post | |||
| encaustic painting workshop? | |||
| 10:40am 02/09/2009 | |||
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I've been meaning to sign up for an encaustic painting workshop- a local artist offers them, and my own attempts at encaustics have been a bit spotty. (Part of that, of course, is my reluctance to actually get all the right supplies, instead of trying to make do with odds and ends. One reason I want a workshop is to see if it's worth it to me to go ahead and buy Stuff.) So far, I've gotten as far as getting on the mailing list. I've just received notice of a workshop on Sunday, October 4th, from 3 to 6. Anyone want to come with me? I may need to make it a social outing as well in order to really commit to taking the time to do it. All materials are provided, and the cost is sliding scale, $30 to $75. The artist's website is at http://www.planetjanetart.com/. Come along? |
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| Post | |||
| moar jam | |||
| 03:05pm 29/07/2009 | |||
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Thus far: strawberry tayberry boysenberry-strawberry-tayberry-blueberr blueberry-nectarine-lemon-ginger kiwi-apple lemon-jalapeno blueberry-hibiscus-clove nectarine-orange-rosewater-cardamom apricot-boysenberry-tea ...now what? |
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| Read 15 - Post | |||
| jam jam jam jam jam jam | |||
| 04:15pm 27/07/2009 | |||
| Where are available-for-the-foraging elderberries around Seattle? | |||
| Read 14 - Post | |||
| aardvark | |||
| 04:00pm 20/07/2009 | |||
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( I've been playing with Aardvark. Sometimes it confuses me. ) (Aardvark is a service for asking and answering questions- like an automated "Dear Lazywebs". I have invites, if you're interested.) |
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| Read 5 - Post | |||
| criticism | |||
| 02:47pm 10/07/2009 | |||
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More "I've been pondering, so I thought I'd see what LJ has to say": Offering criticism is tough work, and can be very vulnerable-feeling. How can I make it feel safe for you to give me critical feedback? How do you try to make this safe for others, and how do folks you admire seem to do it? How do you balance this, moreover, with the fact that there are people whose feedback simply doesn't mean much to you? |
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| Read 14 - Post | |||
| Am I wanky yet? | |||
| 11:26am 09/07/2009 | |||
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I've been revising my interests list, and I suspect I'm taking too much pleasure in it for it to be useful rather than self-absorbed wankery. I'm a mite too gleeful, perhaps, about strings such as, "self-education, self-realization, self-reliance, selfishness." (Maybe what I should do is just toss "self-absorption" into that list! Heh.) So, this post makes sure I know exactly which side of that line I'm on, by indulging myself still further and asking... if you see anything I've missed, what is it? |
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| Read 3 - Post | |||
| 08:52am 07/07/2009 | |||
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Hallo, internets! Do you have pruning skills that weren't gained through years of trial and error? Where did you get these skills, then? (I think I have a half-decent eye for continuing the pruning pattern in fruit trees which have seen regular professional maintenance. Trees and shrubs which have gotten decidedly overgrown, or which haven't had a history of professional pruning, are much trickier. How do you even get in there to see the trunk and basic structure? I didn't do anything too terrible to the yew hedge I was poking at last night, but I was operating purely on guesswork, and I'd like to change that. Well, and it didn't help to be pruning in the dark; in the light of day I could see some places where I'd like to thin the growth and open them up a little.) |
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| Read 5 - Post | |||
| runner beans! | |||
| 11:36am 08/05/2009 | |||
| As I left the house this morning, I saw that my scarlet runner beans are finally beginning to pop up. What gorgeous seedlings! I should try to remember to get a photo. They have a purplish cast to them, and fine veins already visible on the tiny tightly packed leaves. | |||
| Post | |||
| unforeseen side effects | |||
| 10:35pm 06/05/2009 | |||
| I seem to be more attractive on days when I'm actively engaged in sorcery- people respond to me differently, anyhow. | |||
| Read 9 - Post | |||
| 10:57am 05/05/2009 | |||
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I'm insufficiently motivated to swap to Dreamwidth if it will put a damper on discussions because folks are less likely to comment if they have to use OpenID. That looks to be the case at present. Splitting comments is unacceptable to me for the same reason: I am intent on herding all commenters into the same room and poking them until they interact. So, I could post on Dreamwidth and have it copied over to LJ, but enable comments only on LJ (thus reading and posting on two different sites... suboptimal!); or I could periodically import my LJ posts and comments to Dreamwidth in order to have a full backup and switch smoothly if that decision ever makes sense (but what happens when you import a newer edition of your journal over an older one, anyhow? anyone know?); or I could delete the content that's currently here and basically park the username and the style I have set up. Or I could do some entirely different thing which is better than the not very appealing options I've mentioned: what is it? |
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| Read 8 - Post | |||
| Dreamwidth | |||
| 10:28am 04/05/2009 | |||
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Okay, yes, I'm trying this out as well. The big question, of course: if you are a someone who comments on my livejournal entries, are you less likely to click over and comment on dreamwidth instead? I'm going to leave comments open in both places for this post; feel free to try it out before answering that. Edit: I should maybe add a link in the lj version of this entry, so you can actually go easily to the dreamwidth version! Oops. This post is also at http://najalaise.dreamwidth.org/173975.h |
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| Read 11 - Post | |||
| 04:31pm 30/04/2009 | |||
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Sometimes my desires to hurt people are specific to male-bodied or female-bodied people. Okay, yes, this makes sense- perhaps I want to do certain things to certain parts of the anatomy, or maybe it's an aesthetic thing. There are, after all, grey areas between what I find aesthetically pleasing and what I find arousing, and it can be hard to say exactly why some things are appealing. But sometimes my desires to hurt people are specific to a gender or range of genders. What am I on about there? I am not very clear on this. There seems to be a difference in my head between daydreams of inflicting pain on masculine people and daydreams of inflicting pain on feminine people. My approach may even be different, at least internally. What am I on about? In totally unrelated news, if you are a masculine person who enjoys other masculine people, Najalaises, and pain, you might should let me know. |
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| Read 30 - Post | |||
| 03:45pm 29/04/2009 | |||
| ( late gardening post, but going up anyhow for record-keeping ) | |||
| Post | |||
| 11:58am 21/04/2009 | |||
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Crazy survivalists in the audience, do you prioritize specialization or redundancy? Alice and I were pondering earlier whether, if one is planning a nutty little compound, it's better to emphasize skill level- and therefore divide important skills in order to have someone who is quite good at whatever you've named crucial- or better to make sure each person has all the Absolutely Vital skills- and therefore make teamwork more viable, and make each person a more autonomous unit. I think my ideal is to make sure everybody is exposed to the core concepts, gets a little bit of practice, and has documentation on each of the Absolutely Vital things... but have experts emerge in each area. It seems important to ensure that, should someone need to, they'd be able to pick up a skill or task relatively smoothly. |
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| Read 15 - Post | |||
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najalaise |
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